1 Samuel 9:9

Contextual Overview

³ And the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the attendants with you, and arise, go seek the donkeys. ³ One day Kish's donkeys strayed away, and he told Saul, "Take a servant with you, and go look for the donkeys." ³ And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. ³ Now the donkeys of Saul's father, Kish, were lost. So Kish said to Saul, his son, "Take one of the servants, and go and look for the donkeys." ³ The donkeys of Saul's father Kish wandered off, so Kish said to his son Saul, "Take one of the servants with you and go look for the donkeys." ³ And the asses of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. ³ The donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with you, and arise, go seek the donkeys. ³Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, had wandered off and were lost. Kish said to his son Saul, "Please take one of the servants with you and arise, go look for the donkeys." ³ Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul's father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, "Take one of the young men with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys." ³ Sotheli the femal assis of Cys, the fadir of Saul, perischyden. And Cys seide to Saul his sone, Take with thee oon of the children, and rise thou, and go, and seke the femal assis. And whanne thei hadden go bi the hil of Effraym,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

inquire: Genesis 25:22, Judges 1:1

a Seer: 2 Samuel 24:11, 2 Kings 17:13, 1 Chronicles 26:28, 1 Chronicles 29:29, 2 Chronicles 16:7, 2 Chronicles 16:10, Isaiah 29:10, Isaiah 30:10, Amos 7:12

Reciprocal: Genesis 15:1 - in 2 Samuel 15:27 - a seer 1 Kings 22:17 - I saw 1 Chronicles 9:22 - Samuel 1 Chronicles 21:9 - Gad 1 Chronicles 25:5 - the king's seer 2 Chronicles 19:2 - the seer 2 Chronicles 33:18 - the seers 2 Chronicles 34:21 - inquire Jeremiah 24:3 - What Micah 3:7 - the seers 1 Corinthians 12:17 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 6:18
But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

Genesis 6:18
But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

Genesis 6:18
But I will make an agreement with you—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives will all go into the boat.

Genesis 6:18
but I will confirm my covenant with you. You will enter the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

Genesis 6:18
But with thee will I establish my covenant: and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

Genesis 6:18
But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

Genesis 6:18
"But I will establish My covenant (solemn promise, formal agreement) with you; and you shall come into the ark—you and your [three] sons and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

Genesis 6:18
And Y schal sette my couenaunt of pees with thee; and thou schalt entre in to the schip, and thy sones, and thi wijf, and the wiues of thi sones schulen entre with thee.

Genesis 6:18
`And I have established My covenant with thee, and thou hast come in unto the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy son's wives with thee;

Genesis 6:18
But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark-you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Before time in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God,.... To ask doctrine of him, as the Targum, to be taught by him, to have his mind and will in any affair of moment and importance; which was usually done by applying to some man of God, eminent for grace and piety, and a spirit of prophecy:

thus he spake, come, and let us go to the seer; a man used to say to his friend, when he wanted some instruction or direction, let us go together to such an one, the seer, and ask counsel of him what is proper to be done in such an affair:

for he that is now [called] a prophet was before called a seer; for though these names are used freely of the same persons, both before and after this time; yet now the more common appellation which obtained was that of a prophet; custom, and the use of language, varied at different times, though the same was meant by the one and the other; such men were called seers, because of the vision of prophecy, because they saw or foresaw things to come; and they were called prophets, because they foretold what they saw, or delivered out their predictions by word of mouth. This verse is put in a parenthesis, and is commonly supposed to be the words of the writer of this book: hence some draw an argument against Samuel being the writer of it, as Abarbinel does, who concludes from hence that it was written by Jeremiah, or some other person long after Samuel, or that this verse was added by Ezra; but as this book might be written by Samuel in the latter part of his life, he might with propriety observe this, that in his younger time, and quite down to the anointing of Saul king, both when there was no open vision, and afterwards when there was scarce any that had it but himself, he was used to be called the seer; but in his latter days, when there were many that had the vision of prophecy, and there were schools set up, it was more common to call them prophets; though perhaps these are the words of Saul's servant, spoken to encourage Saul to go to the man of God, and inquire of him, since in former times, as he could remember, being perhaps an old servant, or he had heard his parents so say, that such men used to be called seers, because they saw what others did not, and declared and made others to see what they did; and therefore there was a probability that this man of God, who was a seer, might show them the way they should go to find the asses.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This is manifestly a gloss inserted in the older narrative by the later editor of the sacred text, to explain the use of the term in 1 Samuel 9:11, 1 Samuel 9:18-19. It is one among many instances which prove how the very letter of the contemporary narratives was preserved by those who in later times compiled the histories. We cannot say exactly when the term “seer” became obsolete. See the marginal references.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Samuel 9:9. Beforetime in Israel — This passage could not have been a part of this book originally: but we have already conjectured that Samuel, or some contemporary author, wrote the memoranda, out of which a later author compiled this book. This hypothesis, sufficiently reasonable in itself, solves all difficulties of this kind.

Was beforetime called a seer. — The word seer, ראה roeh, occurs for the first time in this place; it literally signifies a person who SEES; particularly preternatural sights. A seer and a prophet were the same in most cases; only with this difference, the seer was always a prophet, but the prophet was not always a seer. A seer seems to imply one who frequently met with, and saw, some symbolical representation of God. The term prophet was used a long time before this; Abraham is called a prophet, Genesis 20:7, and the term frequently occurs in the law. Besides, the word seer does not occur before this time; but often occurs afterwards down through the prophets, for more than three hundred years. See Amos 7:12; Micah 3:7.

All prophets, false and true, profess to see God; see the case of Balaam, Numbers 24:4; Numbers 24:16, and Jeremiah 14:14. All diviners, in their enthusiastic flights, boasted that they had those things exhibited to their sight which should come to pass. There is a remarkable account in Virgil which may serve as a specimen of the whole; the Sibyl professes to be a seer: -

________________ Bella, horrida bella,

Et Tyberim molto spumantem sanguine CERNO.

AEN. lib. vi., ver. 86.

Wars, horrid wars, I VIEW; a field of blood;

And Tyber rolling with a purple flood.

I think the 9th verse comes more naturally in after the 11th. 1 Samuel 9:9; 1 Samuel 9:11